4 × 53 Gbit/s Electro-Optic Engine With a Surface-Normal Electroabsorption Modulator Array

Short-reach communication systems use electro-optic transmission engines based on low-voltage, wide bandwidth modulators to achieve high capacity and low power operation. Here, we demonstrate, for the first time, integration of a 4-channel array of surface-normal electroabsorption modulators (SNEAMs) with a 4-channel array of electronic drivers with low output voltage (~1.25-1.45 Vpp). We use this 4-channel SNEAM-driver array electro-optic engine to demonstrate <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$4 \times 53$ </tex-math></inline-formula> Gbit/s non-return-to-zero on-off-keying transmission across up to 2 km of standard single mode fiber over a broad wavelength range (about 26 nm), the widest band of operation achieved with SNEAMs. Integration of a SNEAM array with a low output voltage driver array, a result that we achieved thanks to the use of SNEAMs that operate with low voltage swings, represents a fundamental milestone toward the realization of optical modules based on SNEAMs.